


Inevitability

by UberDuper



Category: Skullgirls
Genre: Gen, Maybe - Freeform, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-03
Updated: 2015-08-03
Packaged: 2018-04-12 20:07:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4492977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UberDuper/pseuds/UberDuper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You can't fight fate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Inevitability

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. The clock clicked away, the second hand ticking and tocking across the clock face. A quarter to three is when it started. The dull throb in her chest, pulsing in and out, ebbing like the ocean waves. In, out. In, out. A hand came up, a fist pushed into her chest, but that did little to ease the uncomfortable feeling of the gentle pulse. In and out. Like breathing. Not her breathing. Like something was breathing for her, _in_ her.

“Kid? You alright?” The uneasy voice of the monster atop her head. And yet she knew he could feel it too. His voice was uncertain, worried. The pulse deepened, each beat pushing just a little bit more forcefully. When the clock rang three, the pulse throbbed with it, like an uneasy vein.

“Y-Yeah...” She managed. “I just...” And then she noticed it. With the pulse, the maddening beat within her, came along a light. She wouldn't have noticed the light if it hadn't been right in front of her face. Her eyes flicked up, finding the pale blue light winking knowingly at her. A single lock of her hair, just barely thicker than a piece of paper. Taunting, teasing with each gentle flicker. “No...”

Her chair scraped the ground at her sudden position change, drawing the eyes of the man in the same room with her. It wasn't more than a glance, uninterested. The only other being in the room, a lanky machine with a fish-like head, looked at her as well, its suit rumpling in the otherwise silent room. The machine's yellow eyes followed her as she made her way towards the room's exit, the thing itself speaking up once she was a few steps from the door.

“Have you the need for an escort, Lady-”

“No.” She cut it off, drawing a glance from the man again. The machine looked unsurprised, simply offering her a shrug.

“As you wish. Have a pleasant day.” She could only nod, cringing as the pulse got stronger, like a headache in her chest. It was starting to hurt. With a stumble, she made it out of the room, heading for the elevator. How high up was she in the tower? Ten stories? Fifteen? It would take too long to get out of here. She needed fresh air, needed to calm herself down. It wasn't anything... bad. Just a dream. Her head was aching now as well. Just some fresh air. She imagined it. Just imagined-

“Kid. Calm down.” The monster spoke, a tendril of his spiraling down to rub at her neck comfortingly.

“I-I'm sorry... It's just...” In. Out. In. Out. The pulse synched with her breathing. In. It was really starting to unnerve her. Out. But now her breath was really speeding up. In. The monster could feel it too, his eyes squinting in concern. Out.

The elevator dinged to a stop. She glanced up in surprise as the doors slid open. That was fast. A wash of cool air hit her face, alerting her to the presence of the sweat that had begun to run down her skin in rivulets. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, stumbling out of the elevator. The throbbing pulse in her chest was beginning to get louder, like the thump of a mallet on her ear drums. Thump. Thump. Thump.

“Hey, kid? What're you-” The monster, left uncovered for the world to scrutinize, flailed slightly in surprise as she lurched out of the tower's front door, heading outside. She stumbled down the street, yellowing leaves falling from the trees. The monster stared at the falling leaves, realizing that it was finally fall again. Which meant... it was the seven year anniversary. Oh no.

Her breath began to come in ragged pants as the thrumming pulse throbbed in her chest and the drumbeat pounded in her ears. Sweat trickled down her forehead, and now a new symptom raised in her body. Heat. A flash over took her, but it seemed separate from the sweat. The liquid was a constant thing, running in rivulets and trickles like water down a mountain. The heat, however, was on and off, like some prankster was playing with a light switch. It was like a floodlight without the light. Click. Thump. In. Thump. Out. Thump. Thump. Thump.

A few minutes later, she tripped, skinning her knee on the sidewalk as she fell. There was a puddle of muddy water near where she caught herself, letting her reflection stare in disgust and disdain at her. A sweaty, pathetic looking woman. Her eyes stared into her reflection's. Mahogany orbs with half a skull in each eye. Thump. Click. Thump.

“Hey...” The monster grumbled. She glanced up, vision swimming as pain began to take over her body. Her joints ached, calling out for relief. In. Thump. Out. Her chest felt tight, skin stretched taut over a strangled ribcage. In. Thump. Thump. Thump. Out. Her head spun, threatening to throw her to the ground if she returned to her feet. Click. Thump. Thump. Her hands clenched into fists, drawing tiny red lines onto the skin of her palms as the tender skin scraped against the sidewalk.

She tried to get up, her body unsteady on legs it had balanced upon her entire life. A drop of blood fell from her scraped hands, quickly followed by another. Drip. Drip. The dripping began to blend in with the other sounds, the breathing and the thumping and the heat. In. Out. Thump. Thump. Click. Click. Drip. Drip. She fell to her knees.

The woman glanced up after a moment. She was kneeling in front of a familiar looking building. A church. Drip. Thump. Had she been here before? Drip. Click. Something about it, through all the pain and the thumping and dripping and clicking and in and out, called to her. In. Thump. She pulled herself to her feet, dragging herself through the solemn doors. Out. Thump. The cathedral within was more or less silent, empty save for a lone figure standing at the front. She turned, a nun praying to her gods, with a smile on her face. Click. It looks like her prayers were answered. Thump.

“You've finally arrived.” Double's smile turned sinister as Filia collapsed again to the ground, and she moved to help the soon to be Skullgirl off of the ground. “Come, your room's downstairs.”

 


End file.
